Job agency Atlanco Rimec exposed as blacklister

Ucatt urges immediate government action against the company

INTERNATIONAL employment agency Atlanco Rimec found itself in hot water yesterday after Danish TV channel DR1 revealed it kept blacklists.

The channel said the company had kept a secret register of workers for many years.

Workers seeking better pay and conditions or who join a trade union are not given further work even if they are described as “good” or “excellent” on the register, it found.

A former manager of Atlanco Rimec speaking anonymously on the programme said: “Atlanco Rimec does not tolerate workers who have dealings with unions. That is a complete no-no in the company because unions can cause a lot of problems.”

The company, which has an office in Northampton, has thousands of construction workers on short-term contracts on its books and operates internationally in Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Poland, Norway and Australia.

Construction union Ucatt called on the government to take immediate action against the company.

Ucatt general secretary Steve Murphy told delegates to the union’s conference: “We have always warned that there was more than one blacklist and that blacklisting was an international issue.

“We now have that proof. We must step up the campaign to stamp out blacklisting.

“We will seek out all blacklisting companies wherever they are. We will be working with our sister unions across the world. There will be no hiding place.”

Mr Murphy added that it was essential the activities of Atlanco Rimec were fully investigated.

Delegates at Ucatt’s conference delivered passionate pleas calling for the blacklisting of blacklisters by banning all companies found guilty from public contracts.

Ucatt is currently seeking legal action to compensate its members on the consulting association blacklist.

The list could be much larger as the Information Commissioner's Office admitted to the Scottish affairs select committee that they had seized only 5 to 10 per cent of the files held.

But a spokesman for the union said it was too early to know if Atlanco Rimec’s register contains any of its members.

Atlanco Rimec was unavailable for comment but has admitted to DR that it keeps an “above board” register.